Snow Days: Setting Aside Curriculum For a Few Days My boys and I are learning all about snow! I set aside our “normal” curriculum and wrote a unit study on snow. Yes, I need a break. The boys are loving the break from the norm and are dreaming about our first snowfall. Hopefully we will be sledding before the new year. In the meantime we are learning about all the different types, colors, and sounds of snow. From Blood Falls to Surviving an avalanche, we are all amazed! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you and your family!!!
21 Thanksgiving Math Activities for Kindergarten I am super excited about this next activity pack! 21 Thanksgiving Math Activities for you pre-K- First graders. While I wrote it with Kindergarteners in mind, it would be fun for your little ones:). This activity pack is loaded with fun coloring and math activities for your little ones. I loved holiday and themed pages because it seems even my older kids want to use them. It must be the “holiday buzz”! More Thanksgiving Activities Here Thanksgiving Math, Reading, Science Activities for 3rd Grade 30 Thanksgiving Activities, Crafts, and Games for K-2nd Grade 21 Thanksgiving Math Activities for Kindergarten 4 Thanksgiving Jokes Solved with Divisibility Fall Math and Literacy Super Bundle- Grades K-2
Homeschooling and Life: Perspective I’m sitting here enjoying a cup of coffee next to my youngest son. It’s raining outside. Really raining. We flipped the sofa around so we could enjoy the stunning fall view out of our window (in the picture), and it got me thinking about perspective. Life gets crazy. Toddlers find nail polish and paint the floor. Teenagers spend all day on social media and then need help on an essay late at night. Coworkers try to undermine each other. The paycheck runs out before the next payday. The power goes out and nothing in my agenda was able to be accomplished. Etcetera Life. Home. HomeSchool. Work. Ministry. They can all become dark, dreary, and dismal at times, can’t they? When they do, flip the “sofa” around. I’m a Jesus believing, faith walking, prayer warrior. Yet, I can still get down right despondent, disturbed, and depressed (Dr. Seuss). I have to make small tweaks to my day to improve my outlook. Suggestions? These will sound simplistic, but they have worked for me this week: Rainy and dark: flip the sofa around and look out the window. Teenager misused his time: sat next to him and helped him on his essay, hugged him tight, and removed his phone from his hand the next day. Paycheck runs out before payday (we really try to stick to our budget): made “depression meal” of Bush beans and hotdogs. Kids loved it. Power outage: great day! We went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful place we currently lived and discovered: We are going to identify each next week (homeschool impromptu lessons) Co-worker drama: prayed, really prayed (have you seen War Room?). God stepped in and saved the day. Is homeschool not working? Change your perspective: Take the kids outside. find something cool and then go learn about it together. Try notebooking Go to the library and find books related to whatever you are studying in history and science. Marinate in the topics. Go to discovery education or YouTube and find videos about whatever you are learning. (You’ll need to pre-screen them). Put the kids in charge of school for a day. They teach you! Cook a meal or dessert together to bless another family. Participate in a community event. Join a 5k run with the kids and train together. Visit you nearest museum. Go to the park, farms, beaches, caves, mountains, deserts, or prairies near you. give your kids dry erase markers and do “school” on the mirrors or windows. Tape their papers under their chairs and have them work lying on their backs. We get into ruts. So do our kids. Changing our perspective is sometimes all it take to bounce to a better place!
Computer Safety and Kids Dear mom, I would like to plead with you to safeguard your children while they are on the computer. They need an escape plan. What happens WHEN something that your family deems unacceptable pops up in front of their eyes? In the old days, we would Stop, Drop, and Roll to put out a fire… remember? Teach your kids that there is junk out there. No matter how hard you try, it will eventually sneak into your home. STOP: When the junk pops up. Stop! Close the laptop, click off the screen, turn off the computer. DROP: Drop what they are doing, immediately. ROLL: Roll out of their chair and come find you and tell you what happened. Unfortunately, I write this because one of my kids got attacked yesterday. They were working on an online math site and accidentally closed the window. When they attempted to find the page again, they were accosted by a grotesque naked woman. I knew the moment he said, “Mom, can I talk to you alone?” that something was wrong. Through tears he shared what happened. So what did I do? How are we handling this? I hugged him and prayed over him. I asked him if his eyes lingered. He said NO and that he wanted to throw up. I assured him he did nothing wrong. As a christian, it is important to me that he understood that he did not sin. We prayed again, then we developed a defense plan. It is not always enough to simply ask the Lord to take the image away, we need to replace the thought with something good. We found a picture of something that he found lovely. In his case, it was a mature buck standing in a wheat field. He has a plan for when the enemy will attack his thoughts: first, he will pray and begin singing a worship song or reciting a memory verse. If the images taunt his mind, he will pull out the deer and focus on some aspect of the picture intensely and talk about it with the Lord… “Look at the way the light reflects off his coat, Lord. He is truly a magnificent creature. Your creation is amazing and wonderful”. We then put on worship music and started singing, and then got to work outside pulling weeds. My heart is so grieved for him, and yet I trust the Lord will get him through! Teach your kids what to do. It is going to happen. Terrible, I know but true. Equip them with the skills needed to get out alive. Other great resources: 10 Ways to Immunize Kids from Pornagraphy Covenant Eyes: Computer Software I would love to hear from you. What have you done to prepare your kids?
Science: Learning About Cells-Mitosis We stumbled into a unit on cells this week. Don’t you love the freedom of homeschooling? We happened to be able to gain access to a microscope, some plant cell slides, and a science teacher all at the same time… excitement was born! While all I could say was, “That slide looks neat,” the teacher was able to share his love for cell division with the boys. In five minutes, the boys transformed from boys trying to use a microscope, to biologists trying to identify the different stages of cell division. God’s creation is truly amazing! Here’s how I helped fuel the flames of excitement: First: We watched a few videos on cell division: We loved Crash Course: Mitosis (He a fast talker, but does great overviews!) We also loved Bozeman’s “Phases of Mitosis” Although these video’s are targeting high schoolers, my boys caught the main ideas without a hitch! Then I stayed up waaay too late creating a Cell Cycle Flip Book kit for each son (for both plant and animal cells). The boys have been busy today coloring, cutting, arranging and flipping about cells. It’s been a fun and productive morning! I posted my cell flip book kit for anyone to grab a copy just a while ago. ***Be the first to comment on this post AND send me an email saying “I would love a Cell Flip Book for my Kids” and I will email you a free copy!
Email Whitelisting GMAIL: In your inbox, locate an email from bekki@Abetterwaytohomeschool.com (ex. your welcome mail for the file you just downloaded). Open the email and locate the “down arrow” next to the reply button at the top right of the message. Click the down arrow and select “Add to Contacts List” from the dropdown menu. That’s it! Now you can look forward to your next A better Way to Homeschool message, headed to your inbox soon. YAHOO! MAIL: When opening an email message, a “+” symbol should display next to From: and the sender’s name. Select this and an “Add to contacts” pop-up should appear. Select “Save”: MAC MAIL: Select “Mail” and “Preferences” from the top menu. In the “Preferences” window, click the “Rules” icon. Click the “Add Rule” button. In the “Rules” window, type a name for your rule in the “Description” field. Use the following settings: “If any of the following conditions are met: From Contains.” Type the sender’s email address in the text field beside “Contains.” Select “Move Message” and “Inbox” from the drop-down menus.Click “Ok” to save the rule. OUTLOOK 2003 &; LATER: Right-click on the message in your inbox. Select “Junk E-mail” from the menu. Click “Add Sender to Safe Senders List.” DON’T SEE YOUR EMAIL PROVIDER HERE? Check out the instructions on this page. See you in your inbox!
Life Skills: Teach Your Kids Their Phone Numbers I Know My Phone Number!! But do my kids? We have been struggling to memorize our new phone numbers together. It is amazing how confusing it can become when you begin to throw out the old numbers and learn the new ones. Our family has four phone numbers that need to be memorized. Phew! That is a lot! I created this fun little foldable to help out our youngest. In the event of an emergency, can you kids simply pick up a phone and call you or your emergency contact? If not, I would recommend that you begin memorizing phone numbers together. (I confess, I JUST memorized my oldest son’s cell number. Since I simply dial by contact on my smart phone I never committed his number to memory. Bad mom.) How do you teach your children important phone numbers? ***Just a final nudge*** My home phone does not work during a power outage. Does yours? We have a back-up phone. you know, one of those plug into the wall types. I would recommend you not only have a back up, but teach your kids how to use it! Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.
How to Set Homeschool Goals that are Worth Achieving Ready to Set Homeschool Goals that are manageable and achievable? How about goals that will benefit your children more than helping them pass a test? Yesterday, my 13-year old made me promise that I would NOT do the dishes for him while he was outside playing. It was almost dark and I was “forcing my kids to go play” before the light was gone for another day, and my son wouldn’t budge. He knew that I was in putter mode and that I was heading toward his lunch dishes. Would you like to raise kids that get in between you and a dirty kitchen? Do you dream about kids that race you to the dryer so they can be the ones who grab that warm load of laundry that needs to be folded and put away? Can you imagine eating a delicious meal that was planned and prepared by your teenagers while you were not in the kitchen? Grab a copy of Homeschool Guide for Real Families. Here is what you will find: Included: What makes a successful homeschooler? Survival Plan How to Homeschool: Setting goals Establish Goals Worksheets Identifying Children’s Strengths and Weaknesses Over 16 years of teaching/homeschooling wisdom Identifying educational benchmarks Choosing curriculum Planning school year worksheets A Year at a Glance Worksheets Unit Study Worksheets My Favorite Resources Staying Organized Sound good? As a homeschooler, I never had a large homeschooling budget. I have always taught on a shoestring budget, creating what I need along the way. I wanted to be able to share so much value with you that you would feel like you found buried treasure. I am so blessed to be able to work from home as I school our boys. None of this would be possible without the love and support of my husband and five of our children!
Homeschooling: When the Day Doesn’t Go as Planned Homeschooling from the Doctor’s Office Today: Day Five of this school year. I had an 8:00am doctor’s appointment and I’m still waiting at 10:00. Challenge: I’m the homeschool mom. No one learns without me… And I’m stuck in the office. Solution: Choice #1- Pre-plan activities and lessons and prep the kids on what they are to do. Choice -#2- leave the kids sleeping and hope that when I show up at lunch time that they are up, dressed, and have self started and got something done without me. Reality- I forgot to properly prep the kids yesterday, neglected to set out some “to do’s” before I left, and got hung up by having to go to two different offices. Expectation- when I get home all four kids will likely have completed math and will be huddled over a mass of Legos creatively building. Note to me: “Bekki, let go of your expectations and benchmarks for today. Nothing in your planner today was written on pen. The Lord had an entirely different plan for your day today. Roll with it! Do not try to cram a full day of school into a time space 1/4 the size of what you had scheduled. Take the kids for a walk.” Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.
Today’s Kindergarten: I Am Concerned It’s 1976. I am super excited to go to my Kindergarten class today! Mrs. House is the best teacher ever. My friend Shelley and I sit next to each other in circle time as the class sings songs and talk about what is a good nutritious breakfast. (Mrs. House isn’t too happy that I had a cup of coffee again today! I’m sure she will talk to mom again later!) When mom picks me up from the bus stop, I share all about my day… We learned about phonics and I quickly memorized the phonics circle. We listened to Ferdinand the Bull. I laughed and laughed when he “sat on a bumblebee”. I played house during play station time and practiced “ironing”. At snack time, my friend Shelley and I turned our milk cartons into little boxes so we could collect things during recess. Shelley and I played tag during recess until we couldn’t run anymore, then we plopped down in the clover patch to search for four leaf clovers. After recess, Mrs. House quizzed us on “F, F, for Freddy Fox” and sang “This Land is my Land” with the first grade class next door. We covered a paper with all different colors of crayons and then scribbled all over that paper with black crayon as hard as we could. Once is was black, we used a paper clip to scratch designs into our picture. I was so excited, I made two! We worked on counting and did some fun worksheets. I couldn’t believe it was time to go home again! I loved kindergarten! (Here is an excellent article) The play, the music, the glitter, the stories, the friends, the dancing, the pretending. I turned out great. I loved school, so much in fact that I grew up to ‘play school’ at home full time (by homeschooling our five boys). I fell in love with learning and exploring and music and art and people in kindergarten. I am so concerned for today’s kindergartners. My friend has a kindergartner who has a reading quota and is already placed in a remedial group because he does not read fast enough. Her class has to skip recess often in order to get more work done. She also has homework. At five years old. Can I just say something here? Childhood is fleeting. Learning is cultivated. Creativity its is crushable. Excitement for learning is perishable. If we turn our culture’s creative, daydreaming, dancing five year olds into frustrated, militant, quiet little soldiers who can sit at a desk for 5-6 hours a day, should we be surprised that obesity, depression, and anxiety will dominate their lives as teens and adults? We need to allow children to return to childhood and delight in life again. I mean delight. Let them pick clover, turn milk boxes inside out, spill glitter while making a picture for dad, play hopscotch, swing and swing, play hide and seek, share, sing, dance, and play. Kids learn through play and role playing. This is how children grow up to be creative, self-expressive, caring adults. They need to have the “time” to just be… No electronics, no homework (Please. Who gives homework to a child under the age of 10? What purpose does this work serve?) Kids need to be outside, sometimes guided, sometimes just supervised so they don’t kill themselves. But they need to be outside. Rain or shine. Snow or wind. Kids need to color, cut, sing, dance, role play, rest, be read and read to, count by bouncing balls and keeping score, and laugh. Learning is much easier when the child’s basic needs are met. Parents, we need to do something for the sake of our children and our future society. This is personal. For my family, it is personal enough to pull my kids from the mainstream to school them at home. Where they run. Where they laugh. Where they read when they are developmentally ready. Where they play outside. Where they explore and experiment. Today, in an hour and a half I am kicking my four youngest sons outside with play swords. They will play outside for an hour during the time of day that most American Kids will be scribbling on their desks and suffer from numb tushes. Yes, even the 16 year old. They are all smart, excellent students. Some are learning at a slower pace than their peers, but all are delighted to learn, read, discover and play. Ask yourself if your young children are delighting in life. I’m not asking if they are busy, can win spelling bees, read at the age of three and solve algebraic algorithms by 6…but do they delight in life? Do they love stories and reading? (or being read to) Do they enjoy their classrooms/learning environments? Are they nurtured by their educators? Do they laugh and run and sing and dance? Do they build, explore, and experiment? Do they play contentedly? I am concerned about today’s kindergartners. We need to stand up and stop accepting new “cultural norms” as normal and ok. They are not. Our kids, as a nation, are suffering. Start looking around you. Find a handful of children who are delighting in life, are full of excitement, and are excited to learn. This might be a challenge, but you will see a few. Then start talking to their parents and glean wisdom. The governing establishments do not have the answers. The parents of content, excited, kind, curious, enthusiastic learners have the answers… ask them! Download your FREE “Kindergarten Fun” {Printable} Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.
Hindsight: It is Worth Repeating If I could rewind the tape and begin homeschooling my kids today with the benefit of my 16 years of experience, what would I do differently? 1. I would spend the first 6-12 months to a year organizing my home, working on establishing a daily rhythm, and study my children. 2. I’d go to the library at least once a week allowing them to choose books that interest them, and hand picking random books for me to read aloud. I would be watching for what they are interested in, what makes them excited, what they find boring, etc. 3. I would rely on my husband more in creating a vision for our children, rather than trying to figure out what everyone else is doing. I wouldn’t waste a second trying to make what works for your kids work for mine. I’d keep my husband in the loop about our daily escapades and accept his advice more quickly. I mistakenly thought that because he worked outside the home all day he would be unable to see what the kids needed. This piece of humble pie would have been better to consume early in homeschooling. 4. Rather than spending countless hours worrying about this curriculum or that, I would begin with the family goals we have now: Put the highest priority on sharing our love for Jesus with our children. To insure the kids know their math facts inside and out. Period. Forget learning them, they need to over learn them. To inspire a love for literature by exposing the kids to a steady flow of great books. (I would read aloud daily no matter what their ages). I’d be picking the brains of the veteran homeschoolers, librarians, and authors that are in my sphere of influence for suggestions and I would prioritize a daily reading habit. I would focus all learning to develop excellent written and oral communication skills. I would find my children pen pals so they could perfect the friendly letter. I would have them do copy work from the masters and discuss why the sentences, paragraphs, essays, or stories are so great. I would understand that excellence in writing really comes from being well read and practice, tactics, practice. 5. I would find opportunities for my kids to stand and share in front of others, whether it is during a family BBQ or performing with the local theater- giving them the skill and confidence to speak in front of others. 6. I would view curriculum, tests, quizzes, and state tests as resources to help me customize each of the kids education, not the substance of their learning. 7. I would relax more. I’d let the kids get dirtier. I would get dirtier. We would play in the rain, build in the snow, chase rainbows, cloud watch, visit the farm, play at the beach, collect more leaves, examine more bugs, watch more plays, attend the theater, interview our doctors and dentists, locate inspirational guests like missionaries, mechanical engineers, artists, poets, and ace mechanics to share their passions with the kids. I would put a map of the US and the world under glass or plastic across my kitchen table and every single time we read or heard about a place we would locate it on the map and discuss how close/far it it from us. 8. I would hide the duct tape… 9. I would do it all over again. And again. And again. I know my children so much more intimately because of homeschooling. I am forever grateful for the vision my husband was given for our family. How about you? What are the top few things you would change if you could rewind the tape and homeschool those beginning years with the wisdom you have today?
Planning Your Homeschool Day Homeschool kids smell a day without a ‘purpose and plan’ like wild animals smell fear. Normally this is not an issue. I take the time to sit and think through what we are doing in our homeschool day about 4-6 weeks at a time. I have a personal calendar that I print off for each of the boys so they know that “mom has a plan for today, so I better get busy.” I am a little-stressed right now because my current calendar/plan is blank and school is supposed to start in 10 days. The fact that I am not ready for the next step is like a ticking time bomb. If I do not have a clear plan of attack for the day and week before school starts, my boys will eat me alive. They KNOW when I do not have a plan. The run, they hide, they break out the Legos right after breakfast and look up at me with dirty faces and bed-heads and are shocked and even aghast that we have learning to do. If I do not have a plan, they will forget how to get up, make their beds, add and subtract, multiply and divide, and write legibly. Sometimes I think it is a conspiracy. “Psst-Maybe if we pretend to forget how to do school mom will let us play all day and live in our pajamas.” Can you relate?If kids do not see that we are well prepared for our day, week, or topic they do not buy in to whatever learning experience we set before them. They see us grab our teacher’s manual and then say, “OK, let’s get going. We have a lot of school to do today.” They see us begin reading the lesson and make that certain face that says, “what am I supposed to do?”and slip out from under our radar. When we, the teachers, finally grasp the core of today’s lessons they have snuck away from the school area and are resentful that we try to lasso them back to school. If I am honest with myself, I would resent attending a class where the teacher wasn’t prepared. I took the time to come to school, surely she could have prepared in advance to teach me. Our kids are no different. They need to see that we have invested in their education by taking the time to become familiar and excited with the learning material before we declare it is time for school. Kids smell a day without a plan and begin wiggling to get out immediately. What can we do: Plan school for 2-6 weeks at a time. Become extremely familiar with the material before we try to present it to our kids. (remember the teacher from Ferris Beuller? Help us not be like him!) Schedule lessons out for 2-6 weeks in advance. Write them in pencil, so that when life happens you simply erase and begin again the next day. Never try to teach the school week without a plan. Even if you take a rabbit trail because your kids show a sudden interest in penguins, you will be much better prepared. As homeschoolers include a dinner plan/menu into your school day. Be excited about what you are learning together. How do I plan? I have 4-5 weeks of student calendars printed and ready to go, labeled with their names and dates. I teach 5 core subjects: Bible, Math, English, History, and Science I schedule math in first. It usually is just the next number lesson. I include activities like flashcards, videos, and games in my calendars. If I do not schedule flashcards, the kids do not do flash cards. Next, I schedule those easy tasks, like handwriting, phonics workbook pages, and spelling. These are similar to math in that they tend to simply be “the next page#’s”. In our home, we learn memory verses, so I fill in the verses the kids are working on that week. History is my core, my golden thread. I try to incorporate English and Science activities that go along with what we are learning in history. I have to skim the readings, pull vocabulary and scour for student activities that will work with my boys. This year I am using Story of the World and they have a great Activity Book from which I pull reading comprehension, map, art, and cooking activities. And then, of course, there is Pinterest. I have Homeschool boards for every subject and I scour for activities for my boys and pin them often. Science is my weakest subject as a teacher. I am not entirely sure why, but even superman had a weakness. Science is mine. This year I am trying to integrate our science with what we are learning about in history. For me, that means that I am looking for and creating learning activities for the boys. I plan English last. This year I am teaching from Shurley English and LOVE it. It is very well planned, so in all honesty, it is another, “just do the next lesson” curriculum. I glance through the lessons as I am planning and try to spot potential issues. For instance, my boys need two days for the writing assignments, sometimes two so I take that into account. Lastly, I double check my pencil calendars against the master calendar looking for conflicts. Are we home all of the days I planned to teach school? Are there any obvious monkey-wrench days (days that are destined to fail before they begin). I make adjustments whenever necessary. SacrificeWhile every homeschool family has different goals and ambitions, talents and abilities, we all sacrifice something to homeschool.My husband and I personally sacrifice time. Lots of time.It is not easy homeschooling a troop of boys of various ages, grades, interests and learning styles. After 15 years I have learned that the key to success is being prepared before the day begins. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets. Yes Please Thematic teaching is my secret secret sauce. Take any topic: bees, microbes, apples, money, pioneers, explorers, etc and think of ways to explore using lots of hands on materials. Your kids will not even know they are learning! Here’s a FUN Example
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Emotional Boys? What is a Mom To Do? Dear mom, You son is blessed to have you. You are hand picked by the Creator of the universe to guide and direct this future man of God. Ask the Lord for wisdom, because I can assure you that the Lord’s plans for your emotional son Is the same as yours. What works for my five boys when they hit emotional spurts (and they all do): Don’t coddle through the over emotion. Hug and love lots, but not through anything that resembles a meltdown. I turn off the TV and electronics. I continue to be amazed at how quickly technology sucks the boys of their ability to cope, be kind, or simple listen. Yes, they watch and play but it is limited and is the first thing to go when they are a teary mess. I get them around their daddy. Quickly. (Or another godly man). Strong men like my hubby simply do not put up with whiners. I have found that I can raise boys, but my husband mentors men. Put them to work. “Many hands make light work”. Boys need to work hard and feel needed. They also can tell when they really contribute to the group or are being pacified. We have given our boys chores from the time they could dump a bun of toys! (If you can dump it, you can be coached how to put it back:) Pray. This is so key. We are not men. We are emotional beings and love to dig in to the why behind emotional outbursts because that is what God wired us to do. The Lord has always spoken clarity to what each son has needed during his emotional state. **identify the heart issue. So far, my older boys have hit their biggest emotional state at around 12. Lord help me, I have another son almost 12. Confusion has been the catalyst for almost all emotional outbursts with my oldest three. They get confused about something, that pricks their pride because they should know they answer right. Then they lash out emotionally. Teaching boys to say something like, “hm, I don’t understand… Can you explain it again, or a different way?” Has been life changing! That’s my 2 cents. Dear Jesus, Help us moms of boys seek You for counsel, wisdom, and direction with each and every one of our boys. They are so unique and wonderful. You know exactly what they need. May we seek wisdom from each other, but only allow what is from You to stick and stay in our minds… Amen! You may also enjoy: My Son Almost Died Today. “Your 12 Year Old Son is becoming a man. See the Captain America within him!”
Bug of the Day Don’t let your boys find out you are scared of bugs, spiders, snakes, or other creepy crawly things. I have masked my fear behind curiosity. When the boys discover something that they think might frighten me, I take a picture and then we go research about that creature. I find this keeps me sane and they never gain the ability to use my kryptonite against me. This delightful little creature was discovered on my most recent walk with my 11-year-old. Isn’t he NOT cute? My research indicates that this guy is a Stink Bug and is a “watch out” species. Because of our milder winter and warmer weather this invading species may be a big problem. Apparently, they love the same berries that we are enjoying! How about you? What do you pretend to careless about to shield yourself from your boys? (Get it? Shield yourself?) [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=142a79846639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox] [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=143dc6846639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]
What about the Tooth Fairy Forget the Tooth Fairy… I am the Ninja Fairy Who said kids should have all the fun? I have developed the persona of the Ninja Fairy in my home. I sneak into my boys’ room at night while they are sleeping to switch their lost teeth for cash, or decorate their rooms to celebrate their birthdays. It is so much fun that I am declaring war. I am surrounded by testosterone, so I have to pick my battles carefully. Challenge: “If you catch me in the act of secretly blessing you, I will double the blessing!” For those of you who want some tooth fairy resources, here is a cute site. Here are some free Ninja Fairy Notes to help you bless your kids!
Teaching Kids to Set Goals I highly recommend you begin teaching your kids to set goals from the time they can understand what a goal is all about. By the time kids graduate from high school they should be independent, self-governing, and disciplined. Don’t panic. Mine are not there yet either. Step One Setting Daily Goals. We have all of our boys write out a goal list each day. It is great. The idea is that they learn the art of thinking through their day and living their life purposefully. Here is an example of our 17 year old’s list from this morning. Notice the last item… … Read More »
Daily Funnies: Actual Item’s From Our Sons Daily To Do List I created a tab at the top so you can find these daily funnies easier! For Your Enjoyment. Our boys create to do lists daily. These items were taken directly from their lists without their consent or knowledge! Because: Parents Rule. Subscribe to this blog. Come back often. It will be worth your while. To Do: Physical Conditioning: Slay a Dragon to warm up and then Work out in Ho mine Father and Mother! How fair thee? A deep recollection hath cometh forth from mine own mind to record yet another daily list. To Do: Stuff little brother into the dead body of a tauntaun to protect him from further disease and sickness. (His brother has been sick with a stomach bug for three days.) To Do: Claim dominion over a clan of shoe-making elves. To Do: Hunt down Sasquatch and claim his pelt in the name of the Abominable Snowman ****************************************************************************** Help your kids organize their school day!
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Summer Mischief and Simple Pleasures: Water Activities for Bored Kids Due to unseasonally warm weather, the swimming area at our local lake closed. To say our boys were bummed when we walked toward the water is an UNDERstatement! My husband said, “I have an idea! My sister and I did this when we were little… Go buy some huge garbage bags.” I baulked. I gave him the look. Yet he insisted… “Trust Me,” he said. So I did. Voila! A memory was born. Recipe For ‘Fun In a Garbage Bag’ Materials: hot kids large garbage bags a hose a flat place Directions: Have hot kids stand or sit on the inside seam of the bag. Have “volunteer” Spray them fill the bags with water from the hose. Observe the fun. Confession: I was absolutely sure the kids would hate this activity. I was absolutely positive they would not participate. I was absolutely, positively, completely wrong! Lessons learned: Trust husband. Don’t take life so seriously that I neglect the overly simple. Divide “I’m too cool to try” kids from the “Sounds awesome!” kids. This varies in each home. Our 22, 17, and 13 year olds said, “No way.” Our 11 and 9 year old reluctantly tried and loved it. Warning: The water was from our well. We stopped when the boys truly began to shiver in the 95 degree yard. This activity would have been better in the shade. ALL water activities should be supervised. Use discretion with younger children. Good luck getting your older kids to try!!